"grade on a curve" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Referring to the bell curve of a normal distribution.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grades on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grading on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "graded on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "graded on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "grade on a curve (third-person singular simple present grades on a curve, present participle grading on a curve, simple past and past participle graded on a curve)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Education",
          "orig": "en:Education",
          "parents": [
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He asked the teacher to grade (the test) on a curve."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To use a grading system based on the scale of performance of a group to normalize a right-skewed grade distribution (with more lower scores) into a bell curve, so that more can receive higher grades, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject; to curve a grade."
      ],
      "id": "en-grade_on_a_curve-en-verb-mqkVEtus",
      "links": [
        [
          "normalize",
          "normalize"
        ],
        [
          "skewed",
          "skewed"
        ],
        [
          "bell curve",
          "bell curve"
        ],
        [
          "curve",
          "curve"
        ],
        [
          "grade",
          "grade"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "laai¹ koe¹ fu⁴",
          "sense": "use a grading system",
          "word": "拉curve"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "use a grading system",
          "word": "normittaa"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Grading on a curve"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "grade on a curve"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Referring to the bell curve of a normal distribution.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "grades on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "grading on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "graded on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "graded on a curve",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "grade on a curve (third-person singular simple present grades on a curve, present participle grading on a curve, simple past and past participle graded on a curve)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English verbs",
        "en:Education"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He asked the teacher to grade (the test) on a curve."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To use a grading system based on the scale of performance of a group to normalize a right-skewed grade distribution (with more lower scores) into a bell curve, so that more can receive higher grades, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject; to curve a grade."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "normalize",
          "normalize"
        ],
        [
          "skewed",
          "skewed"
        ],
        [
          "bell curve",
          "bell curve"
        ],
        [
          "curve",
          "curve"
        ],
        [
          "grade",
          "grade"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Grading on a curve"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "laai¹ koe¹ fu⁴",
      "sense": "use a grading system",
      "word": "拉curve"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "use a grading system",
      "word": "normittaa"
    }
  ],
  "word": "grade on a curve"
}